Jesus and the 12 Apostles (why was Judas put in charge of the money)?

Question

I asked this question a while ago but did not receive any answers other than those who refuted the fact he was in charge of the money.

Here's the scripture John 12, 4-6

12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) said, 12:5 “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?” 12:6 (Now Judas said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box, he used to steal what was put into it.)

Why did Jesus put him in charge of the money?

Answer 1

Judas was not a thief. There recently emerged documents containing the Gospel of Judas, which was obviously edited from the Bible. Judas was genuinely concerned about the poor which was the cause of many of disagreements with Jesus and the justification of his betrayal.

Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, Judas is not a villain nor traitor. Anyone could have written anything about him being as it is that his Gospel was not published for him to have any say in his defense. The current theory is that Judas was ordered by Jesus to tell of his whereabouts because Jesus knew he was going to be arrested anyway, so he decided to make the most out of it by leaving some money for the apostles, via the 30 pieces of silver. Also, Judas is now believed to be Jesus' right hand man, not Peter. Hence, Judas is in charge of the money. Judas never stole.

Answer 2

We do not know this as a fact. Judas was never one with the twelve. He was the only one who was not a galileean. After his betrayal, there was no doubt a lot of reflection on the part of the remaining eleven, and allegations of theivery, etc. were no doubt levelled in an attempt to vilify the man they felt responsible for Christ's death.

It is said that Judas enjoyed a confidence of Jesus that the others were jealous of. I have no scriptural evidence, and we will never know, but I could make a case that Judas may have actually been the most devout of the twelve, and the only one who truely accepted Jesus' divinity before the resurrection.

Knowing that he had to die to fulfill prophecy, Jesus needed someone to turn him over. When he released Judas, he did so by saying "Do what you must do." The others did not understand this interchange, but obviousy Judas and Jesus did, implying an earlier insturction or agreement. Suppose Jesus charged Judas to do what he did, knowing that only Judas' faith would keep him strong enough to do what must be done to fulfill prophecy? On seeing the result, Judas executed himself. Would a faithless person or a thief with no morals have done this? No, he would have taken the money and called it a good day's work.

It's possible that history and scripture has maligned Judas. . .

Answer 3

Only thing that comes to my mind is that "the love of money is the root of all evil." Jesus also said, "that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus knew that Judas loved money and that he would be very sorrowful about taking the 30 pieces of silver and Judas was. He couldn't bear living with what he had done and he committed suicide.

Answer 4

In the beginning, Judas was just as trusted as any of the other Apostles, so there was no reason not to put him in charge of the money. In hindsight, his name has become associated with ultimate treachery and betrayal, but that's only looking back on it later. Even after he had betrayed Jesus, the door was open for him for God's redemption and forgiveness. Almost all of the Apostles did, at one time or another, betray Christ in one way or another. Peter denied Christ three times, and also suggested to Jesus that He shouldn't allow His suffering and death to happen (Jesus' reply to Peter: "Get behind thee Satan!") But yet Peter was ultimately forgiven, confessed that Jesus Christ was Lord and Savior, and was made earthly Head of the early Church by Christ Himself.

Had Judas repented and accepted God's pardon and forgiveness, he actually could have gone down as one of the Church's greatest saints, but he chose to deny that God could ever pardon him, and he committed the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, dying in dispair and unforgiveness.

It is said by some that Judas was actually a Zealot - a member of an underground anti-Roman revolutionary group that plotted their overthrow - but there is really no evidence I know of that being true. He did seem to have a worldly outlook on things however, and he probably had trouble understanding the concept of a Suffering Messiah, who's Kingdom is not of this earth.

Of course there is the question "If Jesus, being God, knew ahead of time that Judas was going to be the one to betray Him, and knew ahead of time that he would pilfer from the money sack, why would He put him in charge of it anyway?" Perfectly natural question to ask, something I've thought about myself from time to time.

Here's my take on it - Jesus did this to show once and for all time that concentrating on things of this world, such as money, can end up corrupting us, and can be temptations to commit sin. Jesus speaks from Scripture in many places warning us about being overly preoccupied with worldly things at the expense of our immortal spirit. Possibly putting Judas in charge of the money purse is just another one of Christ's lessons for us.

Answer 5

Lol,
I agree w/ randall. Not that it is the issue, but I don't necessarily know that Jesus put him in charge. I guess I thought it was an apostles thing, "hey man, u carry the money box." "I don't wanna, let Judas do it, he's always wantin to know how much we got and why we paid this much for that..."

Answer 6

Maybe Mattew who was a tax collector prevously, was not interested to be in charge of the money, and then Judas volunteered.

Answer 7

Because he wanted everyone to hate Judas so he gave the guy the chance to be immoral.

Answer 8

He knew this would be the person that would betray him for money it was perhaps like a test

Answer 9

why not?

It realy doesn't matter but this is just whom he chose. Some belive it was so that it would be easier to explain where he went when he went to betray him.

I don't know.

Answer 10

Because he sold his soul to the devil.